Unable to load Shape files in SharpMap v0.9 - build 2423

I am filling the geometries in a FeatureDataTable and setting the VectorLayer's DataSource property to a GeometryFeatureProvider which holds the before mentioned FeatureDataTable. It has been working wonderfully until now.

Now I have a need to also add Shape file layers into the map. Below is the code I am using to load a shape file:

The problem is that most of the shape files I use for testing raise an exception in the constructor of QuadTree(List<BoxObjects> objList, uint depth, Heuristic heurdata). The objList parameter contains zero elements in it. Therefore the line "_box
= objList[0].box;" throws an IndexOutOfRange exception.

For some files, no exceptions are thrown, but nothing is displayed in the map either!

I do understand that based on the Datum of various layers the projections need to be transformed. But in the proof-of-concept I am working right now, there are no such tricky circumstances. I have a dummy form with a MapImage control and the above code
to load shape file in it.

Please help me out with this. I definitely don't want to upgrade to SharpMap v2 before it atleast reaches the RC stage. If I am not wrong, it is in alpha right now.

If I use "true" for the spatial index parameter, then I get the dreaded "Unable to read beyond the stream" exception.

john:

I am not really good at ArcGIS formats. This is a project I have been developing for NGOs to monitor their afforestation/reforestation programmes. GIS map is a necessity and I did not quite understand any of the existing GIS softwares. At, first I started
with my own solution using GDI+ (ick!), which obviously did not come out that well. So I started looking for any existing open source libraries and found this gem called SharpMap. So, anything well within GeometryFeatureProvider, I am able to troubleshoot
and help myself out. But with SHP files being totally unknown entity to me, I am not really sure where the problem is.

I do not have the SHP files with me right now. When I do get them, can I send them across to you, so that you can have a look and let me know what the issue might be?

I want to do a comparision between using and not using Spatial Index with shp file. ShapeFile Provider in SharpMap 0.9 is using Spatial Index, now I need a ShapeFile Provider which is NOT using Spatial Index. How can I do this?